From January 1st, the Deutschlandticket will no longer be valid across the board: In the Stendal district in Saxony-Anhalt, it will no longer be able to be used for bus journeys in the future. There is still talk of an isolated case, but other circles are sounding the alarm.
A ticket that is valid in all transport associations in Germany should be the 49 euro ticket. But from January 1st, the Deutschlandticket will no longer be valid on buses in the Stendal district in Saxony-Anhalt. At the end of last week, the district council of the Stendal district did not approve a resolution to recognize the Deutschlandticket in the district. This means that the ticket will no longer be valid on the district’s buses from January 1st.
Six bus lines in the city of Stendal and a total of 35 lines in the district are affected – including connections to Tangermünde, for example. Anyone who wants to travel with it will have to buy an additional bus ticket from January. Rail offers are not affected.
“That’s disproportionate”
The district justified the rejection with the high costs: The district had expected additional costs of 40,000 euros for the first four months of next year alone. This can hardly be achieved due to the district’s high level of debt.
“On the other hand, the Germany Ticket cannot be used by our citizens as part of our local public bus transport. This is disproportionate,” said the chairwoman of the Stendal district council, Annegret Schwarz (CDU), to the MDR.
Other districts are demanding financial support
Other districts are also demanding financial support. Without a final agreement to cover the ongoing financing gap, the nationwide application of the Deutschlandticket is likely to be permanently in question, the Altmarkkreis Salzwedel said in response to a request from the dpa news agency. There is still a requirement for the federal and state governments to permanently and fully compensate for the shortfall in revenue resulting from the introduction of the Deutschlandticket.
With a view to the withdrawal of the Stendal district, the Infrastructure Ministry of the state of Saxony-Anhalt spoke of an isolated case. A spokesman said today that no other districts are currently expected to make such a decision.